Hollywood elitists yucked it up at a fundraiser for the 1%, hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama, complete with ‘white first lady’ jokes. It goes without saying that had this been reversed, and guests had joked about another ‘black first lady’, chaos would have ensued. But such is the case of the race card in America these days – it can be laughed off, as long as you’re a liberal.

Actor Robert De Niro thrilled the crowd at a New York fundraiser headlined by first lady Michelle Obama when he listed the alternatives.

“Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?” De Niro asked a star-studded crowd gathered in the backroom of Locanda Verde, a restaurant he owns on Greenwich Street in TriBeCa.

Celebrities including Beyonce, her mother Tina Knowles, Star Jones, Whoopi Goldberg, Gayle King, Angela Bassett and Ben Stiller were spotted by the pool reporter at the 85-person event, where tickets started at $5,000 per person, benefiting the Obama Victory Fund. Film producer Harvey Weinstein, a bundler who’s brought in more than $500,000 in donation and was a guest at last week’s White House state dinner for British Prime Minister David Cameron, was also spotted at the event.